New rider with a V-Star 650 and counter steering

[sjstanfield]

After reading David Hough's "Proficient Motorcycling" from cover to cover and almost every post here in the New Bikers Forum (and other forums) I finally learned counter steering. What a difference it makes. It cleared up about 50% of the fear I had / have taking turns.

I am signed up for the MSF course but don't start until June.

I read here that most responses to people are to not ride at all until taking the class. I practice almost daily with the examples in the book and I have found that if I don't get on my bike at least every other day I start to get anxieties about riding and then I don't want to get on it at all. Is this normal for a new rider?

This Forum has helped me understand counter steering, head buffeting, and what riding gear to wear. After doing U turns and figure 8's today in a big paring lot using counter steering I never wanted to stop riding. I ride 17 miles to work 3 times a week and would like to do it everyday.

Am I pushing too far at this point? The V-Star is so easy to control it almost steers itself. This fourm is great and has helped me enjoy my MC a great deal. Thanks to all the regulars out there for their time and experiences

Steve

[stock28]

The V Star is a great bike. Most people here don't recommend ridding till the class but it sounds like you're doing everything right. The reasoning being that bad habits are hard for the instructors to break.

[DivideOverflow]

Most people dont read the book, so the MSF is the best choice for them.
I, too, read Proficient Motorcycling before I took my MSF, as a restult, I found that I knew how to do 90% of the things they were teaching. I did still find the class extremely helpful, and worth the money for the personal instruction and the drills they offered. After all, knowing is only half the battle, practice is the other half.

I would just make sure that you are comfortable riding and feel like you are doing everything correctly and safely before you make a 17 mile trek to work, which would probably involve other work traffic.

Make sure to do emergency braking practice and swerving practice with your bike. Those are very important features in how your bike handles. Just make sure you are aware of your progress, and are performing the maneuvers correctly.

Be safe.

[sjstanfield]

Today I practiced more counter steering within my lane and did some pretty cool swerving there was no traffic around me and I was doing about 25 to 30 at the most.

I do practice stops but I haven't gone as far as what I would call emergency braking. This brings up another question. With my bike having only 415 miles on it as of today, won't it cause damage to the rotor if I slam on the brakes this soon? I do do some pretty hard stops but I wouldn't call them emergency. Do I need to lock them up to achive an emergency stop?

I have forced my self to leave my foot off the back break until the last possible second and have no problem using the front break 100% of the time except in turns. It feels very natural doing it this way for me. Now that I can turn this bike as tight as I want (remember it's a cruser and I'm not even close to draggin a knee) it is 100 time more fun to ride and I feel a lot safer around traffic.

My ride to work almost never exceeds 40 MPH. and has only 3 turns each way. I can't wait until the MFS class to try all of this stuff on a 250.

I am hooked for life now. By the way this is my first bike and I am 47. Because I was such a nut with fast cars most of my life I thought it best I stay away from motorcycles. The need for speed is way down on my list of enjoyable things now but I do like and missed the feeling the torque gives me (even if I am only getting upto 30 MPH). It feels a lot faster the any of the cars I have ever raced although my HEMI Ram pick up would beat this bike in the 1/4 mile. 32 HP at the wheel hehehehe hahahaha

Thanks for the replys.

Steve

[Gadjet]

The idea behind emergency braking is to NOT lock the brakes. If you lock the brakes up, you are not going to slow down faster than you would if you didn't lock them. What you want to do is to apply the brakes almost to the point of locking them, while still maintaining control of your bike.

The MSF class will teach you all about this, but you will still have to practice it on your own bike, as the braking threshold is different for different bikes.

Best of luck with your course.

Owen

[JustJames]

It cools to know the different between counter steering and simple turn, isn't it. I do enjoy it myself pretty much. I alway pratice counter steering when I'm on the empty road (after midnight).

For quick stop you should pratice that more often as well. It help to get used to with quick stop (apply both braked gently to not let either wheels locked).

In emergency your panicing with force you to apply either brake too hard and make either front or rear wheel skid. Some situation you might even want to dump the bike instead of stopping it. Quick stop will help you overcome those issues.

BTW congrat for your new V Star. it is one good looking bike, isn't it?